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The documents include photos of a plywood board that the girl was reportedly tied to and forced to sleep on, her mouth and hands bound with duct tape.

The photos also show her sparse bedroom, a bare blue mattress on the floor under pink Dora the Explorer curtains. The word “Melissa” is stenciled in colored letters on the wall.

Kenneth and Misty Stoddard, her father and stepmother, face charges of aggravated child abuse causing great bodily harm following Melissa's death on Dec. 17.

They are being held in the Sarasota County jail on $50,000 bond.

Neither the Stoddards' attorneys nor prosecutors would discuss the case.

Melissa was rushed to the hospital on Dec. 12, unresponsive and without a pulse. Doctors briefly revived the girl but weren't able to save her. She died five days later, having suffered severe brain damage. The official cause of death was hypoxia, caused by oxygen deprivation.

Doctors noticed ligature marks on her upper arms, wrists, ankles and thighs. She also had stitches above her left eye and “multiple lacerations to both wrists that were still fresh and bleeding,” reports indicate.

The records reveal new details about how Melissa was allegedly treated at home, and what her step-siblings said they saw.

Her 4-year-old sibling told detectives that Melissa's arms were taped when she misbehaved, and that she sometimes received more severe punishments.

“She gets spankings from Mom and Dad,” the child said. “They have lots of belts.”

Another sibling told how Melissa was tied up and put in a swimming pool when she was “bad.”

The 5-year-old brother recalled Melissa being bound on the porch while her family members were eating inside, or being removed from the pool and tied up in her wet clothes in her room.

Melissa was tied to a board, which left wounds and bruises on her body as she struggled to free herself from Velcro, straps and tape, her medical evaluation report said.

“Every day she is tied, morning and nighttime,” the brother said.

In distress

When Melissa stopped breathing on Dec. 12, “It appears Kenneth and Misty delayed calling for or seeking medical attention, for at least some minutes after they discovered Melissa unresponsive” and was turning blue, the medical evaluation said.

Authorities also accused the Stoddards, both 35, of having some of their children hide the evidence — the board to which Melissa was allegedly tied and the mattress outside where she slept — when paramedics arrived at their house.

Melissa was 5-foot-5 and 88 pounds at the time of her death, according to her autopsy. She lost 40 pounds over the course of several months when she moved from her mother's home in North Carolina to live with her father in Sarasota County, prosecutors said.

The girl had ADHD and was taking Trazodone, a drug used to treat anxiety and depression, which showed up in her urine test.

In the past, Melissa had violent tantrums but had gotten some help and more recently only fought verbally, Alicia Stoddard said.

But her mother said she disciplined Melissa with timeouts — not with binding her — as punishment.

When she was stressed or agitated, it showed in her voice, said her evaluation at Guilford County Schools.

But Melissa had excellent attendance and knew how to ask for help or say words like “Excuse me,” or “Thank you.”

Things got so bad in the weeks before she died that Melissa is said to have asked strangers at Walmart for help. It never came.

The medical report said Melissa had suffered “chronic, severe and fatal” physical abuse.

“There appears to be extensive evidence that Melissa was being tortured, ridiculed and isolated for at least several weeks before she died,” the report continued. “This was emotionally abusive to both Melissa as well as the other children in the home who had to witness her horrible maltreatment.”

<p><em>SARASOTA</em> - Prosecutors say documents released this week in the case of 11-year-old Melissa Stoddard tell the story of a child who was brutally tortured, and whose pleas for help were for naught.</p><p>The documents include photos of a plywood board that the girl was reportedly tied to and forced to sleep on, her mouth and hands bound with duct tape.</p><p>The photos also show her sparse bedroom, a bare blue mattress on the floor under pink Dora the Explorer curtains. The word “Melissa” is stenciled in colored letters on the wall.</p><p>Kenneth and Misty Stoddard, her father and stepmother, face charges of aggravated child abuse causing great bodily harm following Melissa's death on Dec. 17. </p><p>They are being held in the Sarasota County jail on $50,000 bond.</p><p>Neither the Stoddards' attorneys nor prosecutors would discuss the case.</p><p>Melissa was rushed to the hospital on Dec. 12, unresponsive and without a pulse. Doctors briefly revived the girl but weren't able to save her. She died five days later, having suffered severe brain damage. The official cause of death was hypoxia, caused by oxygen deprivation. </p><p>Doctors noticed ligature marks on her upper arms, wrists, ankles and thighs. She also had stitches above her left eye and “multiple lacerations to both wrists that were still fresh and bleeding,” reports indicate.</p><p>The records reveal new details about how Melissa was allegedly treated at home, and what her step-siblings said they saw.</p><p>Her 4-year-old sibling told detectives that Melissa's arms were taped when she misbehaved, and that she sometimes received more severe punishments.</p><p>“She gets spankings from Mom and Dad,” the child said. “They have lots of belts.”</p><p>Another sibling told how Melissa was tied up and put in a swimming pool when she was “bad.” </p><p>The 5-year-old brother recalled Melissa being bound on the porch while her family members were eating inside, or being removed from the pool and tied up in her wet clothes in her room.</p><p>Melissa was tied to a board, which left wounds and bruises on her body as she struggled to free herself from Velcro, straps and tape, her medical evaluation report said. </p><p>“Every day she is tied, morning and nighttime,” the brother said.</p><p><B>In distress</b></p><p>When Melissa stopped breathing on Dec. 12, “It appears Kenneth and Misty delayed calling for or seeking medical attention, for at least some minutes after they discovered Melissa unresponsive” and was turning blue, the medical evaluation said.</p><p>Authorities also accused the Stoddards, both 35, of having some of their children hide the evidence — the board to which Melissa was allegedly tied and the mattress outside where she slept — when paramedics arrived at their house.</p><p>Melissa was 5-foot-5 and 88 pounds at the time of her death, according to her autopsy. She lost 40 pounds over the course of several months when she moved from her mother's home in North Carolina to live with her father in Sarasota County, prosecutors said.</p><p>Kenneth Stoddard kept Melissa from speaking regularly with her biological mother, Alicia Stoddard, Melissa's grandmother told authorities.</p><p>Alicia became worried, so she sent an iPhone to Melissa and they talked to each other about once a month, the court documents said.</p><p>Melissa moved in with her father's blended family, where there were three children under the age of 6 and her stepmother was pregnant with another baby. </p><p>In addition to Melissa, the other children living in the house were three boys, ages 15, 5 and 4; and two girls, 8 and 8 months of age.</p><p>Before her death, Melissa had not been at Oak Park School, a Sarasota County public school for disabled children, for three weeks.</p><p>Melissa was mildly autistic and didn't always speak in full sentences, Alicia Stoddard told authorities.</p><p>The girl had ADHD and was taking Trazodone, a drug used to treat anxiety and depression, which showed up in her urine test.</p><p>In the past, Melissa had violent tantrums but had gotten some help and more recently only fought verbally, Alicia Stoddard said.</p><p>But her mother said she disciplined Melissa with timeouts — not with binding her — as punishment.</p><p>When she was stressed or agitated, it showed in her voice, said her evaluation at Guilford County Schools.</p><p>But Melissa had excellent attendance and knew how to ask for help or say words like “Excuse me,” or “Thank you.”</p><p>Things got so bad in the weeks before she died that Melissa is said to have asked strangers at Walmart for help. It never came.</p><p>The medical report said Melissa had suffered “chronic, severe and fatal” physical abuse. </p><p>“There appears to be extensive evidence that Melissa was being tortured, ridiculed and isolated for at least several weeks before she died,” the report continued. “This was emotionally abusive to both Melissa as well as the other children in the home who had to witness her horrible maltreatment.”</p><p><empty></p><p><empty></p>